Encyclopedia

DRIVERS: SILVIO MOSER

Switzerland's Silvio Moser was born in 1941 and began racing a Jaguar XK120 when he was just 20. He tried his hand at Formula Junior the following year and won a race for Lotus at Halle-Saale-Schleife but spent most of his time competing in hillclimbs. Having acquired a Brabham Formula Junior in 1963 he was an unexpected Temporada Champion in 1964, winning all four races of the series. For the 1964 seasons he fitted the car with an engine which was suitable for the new Formula 3 regulations and enjoyed further success and so in 1965 he bought himself a Formula 2 Brabham, although by switching engines he was also able to use the same car in F3 events.

He tried his hand at Formula 1 at the British Grand Prix in 1967 at the wheel of an uncompetitive Cooper-ATS but then acquired an ex-factory Brabham for 1968 and finished fifth at the Dutch GP that year. He raced a Brabham-Cosworth in 1969, attending most of the races but his best result was sixth at the United States Grand Prix. He decided to commission his own F1 car and asked Guglielmo Bellasi to build him a car for the 1970 season. This was necessary because of rule changes which meant that Moser needed to have a car with a monocoque and bag fuel tanks. The car was not ready until June and then failed to qualify for the Dutch and French GPs. The frustration continued at the German GP but finally in Austria Moser made it onto the grid.

Moser's F1 career faded after that, as he competed in F2 instead in a Brabham run by the Jolly Club. He reappeared in the Bellasi at Monza in 1971. The car was later taken to South America where it ran in the non-championship Grande Premio de Argentina. While the Bellasi remained in the background Moser raced Formula 2 in 1972 and 1973 and planned an F1 comeback in 1974 with an ex-works Brabham BT42 which was to be run by the Bretscher team, alongside a full F2 programme with a March chassis. A week before his return to F1 Moser raced a Lola T292 sportscar in the Monza 1000. He crashed and suffered serious head and internal injuries. He died a month later having never recovered consciousness.